Federal Republic of Germany Patent document OS 19 14 300, which is herein incorporated by reference, relates to a mold for the continuous casting of metal which has cooling channels arranged in the mold wall. The cooling channels extend approximately parallel to the direction of casting and are provided in the vicinity of their ends with laterally arranged coolant connections. Adjustment or any change of the cooling conditions is possible in the case of this mold only by changing the parameters of the coolant, such as, for instance, the initial coolant temperature and velocity of flow.
Federal Republic of Germany Patent 29 44 175 C2, which is herein incorporated by reference, discloses a continuous casting mold having a mold block which defines a mold cavity. This block is preferably made of graphite. Bore holes, which extend parallel to the direction of casting, are formed in the mold block, from the side from which the solidified bar emerges. Cooling rods through which coolant flows can be inserted in the bore holes at variable depths. Each cooling rod consists of an inner tube and of an outer tube which is closed at one end and surrounds the inner tube, thus forming a coaxial flow path. On the side facing away from the closed end of the outer tube, the inner and outer tubes are provided with coolant connections. The coolant flows into the inner tube through a connection, through the inner tube, is deflected at its end, and flows back again through the outer tube, to an exit connection. By the adjusting the location of the longitudinally displaceable cooling rods the solidification front of the melt which enters the mold can be shifted along the direction of displacement. This allows a single mold cavity having regions of different diameter in the direction of casting, with the solidification front controlled by the displacement of the cooling rods to produce bars of different dimensions without changing the mold and without interrupting the casting operation.
The structure of Federal Republic of Germany Patent 29 44 175 C2 is disadvantageous, however, because the depth of insertion of the cooling rods may be changed only from the bar emergence side of the mold, which interferes with handling and immediate guidance of the emerging hot bar, due to the size of the displacement mechanism, and because the presence of the emerging bar substantially limits the handling of the cooling tubes. Thus neither the cooling apparatus nor the bar handling apparatus are optimal.